A seven-year-old girl from St Albans decided to donate her hair to charity to help make wigs for children with cancer.

Olive Anderson Beaman, of Trevelyan Place, donated 12 inches of her hair to the Little Princess Trust, after having had long hair for two years.

Her mum, Shirley Anderson, said: “She said that she wanted to get her hair cut and I said why don’t you give it to people who can’t have long hair. We had a look on the internet and found this website and she said she’d like to do it for them. They needed minimum seven inches, preferably 12.”

Olive, who goes to The Abbey School, had her hair cut at Mad Hatters Hair in Spencer Street, St Albans, which cuts hair for children up to the age of 11. She watched Alice in Wonderland on DVD during the hair cut and was given a balloon, a sticker and hair clips.

Shirley said: “She says it feels weird because it’s all swinging around her neck.”